


The Master Sword and the Oldest Castle -- Twilight versus Sky

by nevynovember



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 20:48:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28962678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nevynovember/pseuds/nevynovember
Summary: This isn't really a complete, polished story like my work usually is. I just wanted to make the Links from Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword fight! And I think it turned out really fun. Midlink is implied, though she is not in the story.For clarity, while it uses the same nicknames as Linked Universe, this isn't an LU fic and only derives directly from the game canon.follow me on twitter @nevynovember ~
Relationships: Fi & Link (Legend of Zelda), Link & Link (Legend of Zelda), Link/Midna (Legend of Zelda)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	The Master Sword and the Oldest Castle -- Twilight versus Sky

A man still young, who brought the demon king to his knees and the triforce to the surface, had now become a settler on the new world one day called Hyrule. You know his name, but we will call him Sky, for clarity.

Sky had laid down his arms, though some easier laid than others, and found a home with his partner Zelda. This village, the future birthplace of a kingdom, had no name yet and was, for now, merely Home. Home to Sky, Zelda, several skyloftians who followed them down, and their loftwings. For several years now, Home and Link have only known peace.

Yet some glittering, light voice roused him this night. He didn’t spring from bed in a panic, rather he rose up as though gently lifted, Zelda beside him undisturbed. Anyone watching would assume he woke normally, but Link could feel a presence. A small one, but beckoning. A new arrival.

A not so young man, who saved the kingdom from invasion and executed the dark lord, now bore a crystal of shadow in his heart. You know his name, but we will call him Twilight, for clarity.

Twilight arrived through a gate in time now locked behind him. He had no need for it, he wasn’t going back the way he came, everything he needed lay ahead of him.

Every necessity, he brought with him. His training, his courage, his weapons-- in particular, the Sword of Evil’s Bane. The Master Sword rested in Twilight’s main scabbard. Only thing missing was waiting for him in this very castle.

The Oldest Castle is a peculiar place, standing in some form since even before the old war, and it looked to have a disagreement with linear time. While the sun rose and set around it, rooms here shifted from beautiful new construction, to dilapidated ruin and back; with no two parts of the castle sharing a moment in time together. There Twilight would make his way to the central hall, with small steps covered in red carpet leading up to a museum display of sorts. Here, he’d wait.

Sometimes it would display magical crystals, sorcerer’s staves, intricate sheikah artifacts, but he’d stand vigilant and wait. Occasionally, the roof to this chamber would shift to a distant future and fade away, and Twilight could see the sky outside and figure how much longer he’d have.

Once a patient man, Twilight crossed his arms and tensed his body. His search had been years long and he now found himself on a desperate gamble to finish it. Potentially stranded in time, his source of information unreliable, it was do or die now.

Just after the sunset, the object of his desire shifted into place.

The Mirror of Twilight. The path back to her.

Sky wandered, not aimlessly, but not with his own aim. He had left town at daybreak and took to the woods. Bringing his loftwing felt like a bad idea, somehow. It felt like all day, pushing through the forest, before he found that strange castle.

Pulled in by that presence, that _consciousness,_ he marched through each timeshifted stairway and path to that Central Hall right after the sun finished setting.

In the silence preceding, Sky told himself he ought to think he saw another knight of the academy, instead of feeling like he was watching himself-- alienated from his own body. Then the silence stopped.

Soon as Twilight’s hands grasped the mirror it jerked, unsettled into a shaking frenzy that tore open a portal to another world. Deep, dark, beckoning, the knight’s boots slid across the carpet while it tried to pull him in.

Driven by instinct, Sky took to his feet and charged ahead. In a swift motion, he wrapped his arms around Twilight’s chest and threw him-- “HEYAH _”--_ down the steps and away from the portal.

The older link rolled right through the impact and back to his feet, deft in his movements though usually more deft in his instincts than to let someone sneak up on him. But that whirling gate behind Sky transfixed him, it had taken him many years spent and deals made to get to this point. Even now, Twilight felt no shock at this doppelganger before him-- in fact his dreams often warned him of interlopers dressed in his face. Instead, his eyes drifted slowly and smoothly from the portal to Sky, and he drew the Master Sword. “Move,” he stated.

Sky wore that gaping expression you’d expect when he recognized the hilt, the blade, the unmistakable _sheen_ of his beloved Master Sword. An irreconcilable tempest of _Why_ filled his brain, and if words were his that’d be the only one to say. Rather, Sky considered the horrifying dark behind him, and the blade that ought to be resting forever ahead of him and found there his answer. He just shook his head. _No._

Quick rolls, fast steps, Sky had nothing else at his disposal, and faced a talented swordsman at that. Luck or destiny, Sky could never tell, he managed to dodge. Seeing that familiar metal slice right by him, he felt utterly aware of the space between. One swift backflip and he maintained distance, but he needed to close the gap. He needed to get to her.

Twilight flourished her in hand, his Hylian Shield in his right now, his expression a cold and fierce statement. Noticing he had only his speed, Sky took a gamble and rushed him down, driving himself into Twilight’s core. The surprise worked.

Rather than try to take the other off his feet, Sky tried to take the upperhand-- the two links stood face to face, Sky trying to pry the sword right out of Twilight’s hand while holding his shield arm at bay. A close up look at his doppelganger, Sky watched as that cold determination started to unwrap into something more ferocious. Worse still-- Twilight was _stronger_ , and Sky’s knees started to shake as he gained ground. All the younger one could do was barely keep hold of the hilt when Twilight raised it straight up above their heads.

Then, a miracle happened.

A small glimmer at first, then a flash of brilliant blue light.

The hum of power vibrating from pommel to point.

When the light pulled back into the Master Sword, Sky alone held it high.

Twilight reared back. Dropped to a kneel, he held his hand-- his fingers were pulsing and felt white-hot underneath. His hand was broken. Nothing physical or typical, it simply failed to work-- of course, his bones would sooner crumble to dust before they’d let someone rip his treasured sword right from his hands. In the sudden of it, he didn’t even realize he had lost his shield too, and his adversary had _both_.

It filled Twilight with a deep sadness, and then an erupting, tempered rage. Left hand no good, he drew his Ordon Sword in his right. “Give. That. Back.” he barked.

Sky, bursting with _courage_ he hadn’t quite felt in years, could only grin ear-to-ear to have her back in hand. His smile said it all, buoyant and proud. _No._ Then, Sky slashing downwards in a straight arc, Twilight leaped away from the flying beam of light cutting the carpet in half.

Before Sky could quite bask in his moment of triumph, the miracle kept unfolding. A tickle in the back of his brain gave way to a voice; _Madi Madas_ gave way to _Master Link_.

Euphoria would nearly engulf him if it weren’t for the other guy.

The Ordon Sword scraping against the Hylian Shield, sparks flying, over and over again and Sky was stuck in his head.

_Fi? Fi is that really you?!_

_My sincere apologies for the delay, Master Link._ her serene, sincere, perfectly balanced tone sang clearly in his mind. _My return came suddenly and I am decompiling data. Several millennia have passed since I was last fully conscious. There is a lot._

_Millennia?!_

He could scarcely think of counter-attacks in the middle of the reunion. Thankfully, Twilight merely advanced with one-handed straight stabs at him in quick succession, and deflecting them proved enough for now.

 _Correct. It is interesting, not knowing everything I know, if only for a brief span of time._ she mused, more or less to herself.

 _It’s only been a few years--_ “HNK!” Sky grunted aloud, steel just barely falling short of his gut as he stepped back and back. _How are you back?_

_I am curious. There is a 50 percent chance, or more, that my aversion to inflicting harm on you activated a form of failsafe or… Nostalgia._

_Aww!_ Link smiled, hopping back once more. _I really missed you and your numbers._

_Invaluable information, yes. Speaking of which, Master Link, are you aware you’ve been backed into a corner?_

That explained the simplicity of attack. In his distraction, Sky had been herded into the corner of the hall.

Fi chimed in again. _Removing yourself from this corner and using your sword to fight back would increase your chance of victory by approximately 85 percent._

_Thanks, Fi._

Sky had to focus; he had the sword, the shield, he still had the advantage. Charging in, just an old fashioned blade proved enough for Twilight: he dropped low, using his free hand to hold balance and move at unreal speeds, creating distance and closing in just as fast. The blade clashed against Fi, an angry scrape created between.

 _Your adversary is extraordinarily trained in swordsmanship traditional and otherwise. In a direct combat scenario, your chances of defeating him are approximately 35 percent._ Fi explained.

The remark could cut Sky, but the Ordon Sword did first, slashing his shoulder open. The agility was unreal. Animalistic even. Sky felt lucky just to fend off the follow-up attacks.

 _Well, shucks, I’m just a little rusty,_ he watched the space Twilight maintained between attacks. His opponent was intent on keeping him trapped. _I’ve got the sword that annihilates evil, that’s gotta count for something, right?_

 _This man is not evil._ Fi said, then elaborated, _Sources indicate he is in fact a ‘good boy’._

Twilight jumped in, jutting his blade into Sky’s shield to hold down his arm. Their eyes met again. Twilight stretched out the fingers of his faulty left hand, feeling it out before deciding. Then balled a fist and clocked Sky square in the face.

The ‘good boy’ had Sky pinned to the wall, blade at his throat. _Well,_ Sky gritted his teeth, _Good for him!_

“My sword,” Twilight nodded to her, “Drop it.”

_Although good at heart, his actions directly threaten the safety of your Hyrule, Master Link._

_Remind me what my Hyrule is again?_

“Last chance,” Twilight demanded, “Drop. It.”

 _Nevermind. Good at heart, right? So can we talk him out of it?_ Link grasped for options.

_He is motivated by love and desperation. As such, I am afraid there is a 0 percent chance of reasoning with him._

“Time’s up,” Twilight drew his blade back for just a second and Sky kicked off the wall and bulldozed into him, shield up. The links tumbled over each other. A graceless fall, Sky didn’t know which one cut his leg on the way down.

Fingers wrapped tight around the sword and shield, Sky seethed at the pain but pushed himself back up and away from the other one, who already regained his footing. It bought him time if nothing else.

 _Any helpful analysis, Fi?_ Sky inched further away.

 _I have an idea, Master Link,_ she stated.

_Yeah?_

_It would be unusual for me, but I am decompiling some unusual data from an unusual individual._ Fi sounded a touch uneasy, which was alien and unsettling to Sky. _A direct individual. I conjecture my experience with your adversary would be of great use... Directly._

Twilight wasn’t unscathed either, as he took inventory of the blood flowing down his right arm in thin red lines. He pointed his sword and bore his sharp teeth for Sky. “Enough.”

 _I have no idea what you mean, but I’m in!_ Sky agreed.

 _Simply do precisely as I say._ Fi asserted for the very first time.

_Step left,_ she said, and Sky did, and Twilight’s strike found just the floor.

 _Watch your right_ , she said, and Sky did, parrying the incoming Ordon Sword.

Twilight drove a stiff palm straight into Sky’s sternum, knocking the wind clear out of him and forcing him back a step. _Duck_ , she said, and when Sky did he watched the other leap straight overhead and cleave his green hat in two.

Just as he could breathe again, Fi directed the next move. _Spin._

“HYEAH!” Sky bellowed, unleashing a powerful spin attack that sliced through Twilight’s tunic, and his back. The older knight fell over, his face hit the floor, and in his daze, Sky needed no instruction.

With all his strength, he sprang his body into the air for the finishing blow. Twilight shuddered, eyes wide, as he saw the Master Sword driven clean into the floor where his head could’ve been.

Sky sat right on top of his twin, smiling through the pain of his wounds. The sudden tableturn only drove Twilight further into fury, but when he reached for his weapon, the spirit within leaped out from the hilt of the Master Sword and placed a gentle foot on top of the Ordon Sword.

She tilted her head at Sky, “Perfect execution, Master Link. We make an excellent team.”

Twilight finally broke wide open, jaw dropped. The gaping expression you’d expect when faced with your sword coming clearly to life before your eyes. Atop him, Sky beamed as big as he could. _Thanks, Fi, glad to have you back._

 _“_ Your body has suffered severe damage. Replenish your health at the earliest opportunity.”


End file.
